


The Future Is Now

by Aria6



Series: A Coyote's Stories [31]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Character Death - but then this is Bleach so..., Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 19:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3353144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria6/pseuds/Aria6





	The Future Is Now

_Almost a hundred years after the end of the Winter War._

"Mrph." The young man slowly chewed through his Hamwich. Was it ham? Was it sandwich? Was it some godawful concoction created from a diseased mind that should have been deleted from the gene pool before it could reproduce? He was going for option three.

"That thing smells vile. What is it?" His small companion asked and he pulled it out of his mouth, smiling down at her.

"It is vile and it's called a Hamwich." He waved the wrapper in front of her. "It has to specify it's made with real meat. You can't tell from the taste." To him, it tasted like sawdust. She took the wrapper and began to read the ingredients.

"I'm sorry Wiley. This shit is poisonous. You've got a week left to live." She said with perfect sincerity and he snorted before glancing out the window of their transport. They were about ready to dock at the underwater observatory.

"Don't call me that. And thank you for the diagnosis, Lily." He said as she grinned at him. It was, sadly, his name. Wiley Coyote. He could only presume his mother had hated him. He'd never met her, taken away and enrolled in the foster care system at a very young age.

He wasn't exactly a stunning example of the successes of government care. No, he'd been through six foster care homes before he'd lucked into his last one. His new family had been looking to earn social credits by rehabilitating a young criminal, but they'd wanted one who would not pose a threat to their young daughter. Coyote had been perfect. His crimes were almost entirely thefts and general mischief and his sexual evaluations indicated a complete disinterest in females. Also, his psychological evaluations indicated he was well adjusted, in regards to sexuality, at least. About as safe as any non-related male could be. A female might have been better but the only ones available had been far more troubled then him.

"Where did you get this anyhow? Don't tell me our nanny gave it to you, I'll call you a liar." She said as he watched the sea life going by. It was already beautiful. How much better would the observatory be? It was set in the middle of an oceanic nature preserve.

"A vending machine. I'm hanging onto the Epic bars for later." Those were genuinely delicious, unlike the crap he'd just put into his body. Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"You eat way too much. Aren't you done growing yet? You're huge!" She said and he tried to ignore her, although it was the truth. He was tall and incredibly well built for a young man. But then, he enjoyed physical fitness for fun. He loved sprinting, especially, and was very good at it. Perhaps someday he could even do it professionally. The Olympics? It might not be just a dream.

"Hush. We're coming in for docking." He said as there was a faint shudder through the ship. There were whispers among the other students as air hissed and the locks began to engage. Soon, they would be able to enter the observatory.

Coyote got out his tablet and began calling names, ticking off every student as they answered. He was not here as a student, but as a student mentor. It was his job to keep all the youngsters in sight, tally them when they arrived and tally them again when they left. There was also one real adult, the caretaker of the observatory. He would be in charge of enforcing the rules while all of them were there.

Coyote immediately didn't like the man, when they met. It was a combination of things. Part of it was his personal grooming. Coyote didn't like anyone who slicked back their hair with that much gel. The rest was his handsome face coupled with a charming yet oddly false air. Coyote had a lot of experience with untrustworthy individuals and he was smelling that here. Glancing around, he could tell most of the youngsters couldn't see it. But then, they were just children. He was vastly more experienced with the world.

Still, the man showed them around quite nicely and Coyote shelved his suspicions. It didn't require much to be the monitor in a place like this, after all. It was probably a good place to put a well-connected slacker.

All of them marveled at the ocean life. It was incredibly vivid. Tropic fish swirled over them, and they ooh'd and aah'd as a shark passed by. A recording played, telling them all about the history of the place. Everything was fine.

And then it wasn't. Coyote blinked as the light through the water seemed to change. Orange? And there was a trembling through the whole observatory. An earthquake? The caretaker muttered something before leaving them to go to his office. Coyote just concentrated on keeping everyone calm, assuring them it was nothing but an earthquake. Soon they were listening to the recording again. The light was getting dimmer though. Why?

"Coyote?" Lily whispered by his elbow. She knew him well and knew he was tense. "You really think everything's fine?"

"…No, not really." He said after a moment but very quietly. He didn't want to worry the other children. They were all privileged, from a very good neighborhood. He wasn't sure how well they would deal with fear of the unknown. He'd had an unsettled life and was handling his fear with practiced discipline. "Tell me when that man gets back." He didn't like the man but he definitely wanted him back. Anything to have a real adult around.

Then the observatory shuddered, this time violently. There were cries from the students and Coyote's eyes went wide as a horrible suspicion came to him.

"No!" He ran out of the room, ignoring the children calling for him. He went back the way they'd come, almost skidding on the floors several times. His shoes were new and shiny, without a great deal of traction. He came to a halt in front of the docking facility and stared at what was there… or rather, what was not there. "…That motherfucking sonufabitch." Coyote whispered. "He stole our shuttle." Why though? What had moved him to do this? He couldn't expect to get away with this level of theft. That underwater shuttle was worth… Coyote's imagination failed him but he knew it was expensive. This was not like stealing a hover car!

"Coyote, what's wrong?!" Lily was right behind him and she came to a halt. "What… oh." She saw exactly what he'd seen. More students came and there were exclamations and some signs of panic. That galvanized him and he turned to reassure them.

"Everyone calm down. Yes, the shuttle is gone. But someone will be coming for us. We just need to stay calm." Coyote said with authority. He might not be a real adult but he looked like one. That was enough for the children to trust him, particularly when he was all they had left. "Let's go back to the observing rooms." He gently herded them out, back to listen to the recordings and watching the marine life. "Lily. Who here can be counted on?" He asked her quietly and she looked up at him worriedly before swallowing.

"Raymond and Diana." She pointed the two students out to him and he called them over. Soon they and Lily were handling the others and he tried to make it clear that they were in charge before slipping out. He needed to see if he could find any sign of what had happened.

He couldn't find much. But when he tried to get a signal on the cable, there was nothing but static. Frowning, Coyote tried to raise the internet. Again, there was nothing. His frown deepened as he thought about it. Satellite reception didn't work this far underwater but there was supposed to be a fibre link, part of the link that went clear across the ocean. What was going on?

Regrettably, he completely missed the old radio the other man had used. If he had, he would have known what was going on and why the caretaker had stolen their transport… and how remote the possibility of help really was.

Not that it would have made much difference in the end.

* * *

After the first two days Coyote knew they were in deep, deep trouble.

The children were hungry but not starving, not yet. That was due to the contents of a vending machine and his ruthless rationing. Thankfully there was a modest desalinization unit so water was not an issue. But food was.

"Why isn't anyone coming for us Coyote?" Lily asked as she curled against him. That was the question that was plaguing them all. Why hadn't help already arrived? Everyone was talking about their parents and wondering where the hell the rescue teams were. Coyote closed his eyes for a moment.

"Something bad is going on, Lily." He didn't know how bad. But he knew that at this point they needed to assume they were on their own. "I think we're going to have to try something." He'd found some old blueprints of the place. It was insane and perhaps even impossible, but he had a plan. Lily looked at him trustingly before hugging his chest.

"You'll think of something Coyote. You're the best brother ever." She pledged and he smiled, gently running a hand through her hair.

"And you're the best sister." He really loved her, his adoptive little sister. She snuggled tightly against him, sheltering against his side. Coyote put an arm around her, making a promise to himself.

He would keep his Lily safe.

* * *

The next day, he had to rethink that.

"Damn." One look told him something very unpleasant about his plan.

"Coyote, you'll never fit!" Lily objected and he sighed, running a hand over his face.

"I know." They were look at a maintenance conduit. It was meant to carry robots that would do work on the fibre links and other things that Coyote could hardly imagine. It was part of the blueprints he'd found, in the control room. "The question is, can all of you fit?" Glancing around he found the biggest child in the group. "You! Try to get in. Tell us how tight it is." The rotund little boy looked daunted but came over to try. He fit through the hole easily, not to Coyote's surprise. The children were all quite young and a lot smaller than him. "Can you move well?"

"It's a bit tight but I'm fine." He said, his voice muffled and Coyote nodded. Lily looked at him, her eyes wide.

"But YOU can't fit! We can't leave you!" She objected and he smiled at her before hugging her reassuringly.

"You have to. You can get help for me." He said and she sniffled, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. The other children didn't like it either. They were going to leave the only person they thought of as an adult behind? To what? "So hurry it up. Get help for me as soon as you can." He urged them and there was some hesitation before another girl entered the maintenance tube. Then another, and another. Lily was one of the last but Coyote calmly urged her through. If they stayed the children were going to starve to death. They needed to go.

That left him completely alone and Coyote wiled away the time reading the books and magazines the caretaker had left behind. There was some porn that didn't interest him and some rather good horror novels. It helped pass the time and get his mind off the painful ache in his gut, the emptiness in his stomach. All he had was water, now. What little food was left, he'd made the children eat before they left.

He didn't die of starvation though. The very next day, Coyote knew there was something strange about the air. He didn't really recognize the symptoms of nitrogen narcosis, but he'd been drunk and also smoked marijuana in his life. He recognized the intoxication and intuited that something was wrong with the air in the observatory. What else could be causing it?

"Well, fuck my life." He lay on his back, grinning at the ceiling. It was moving in slow waves, making him blink as he tried to focus. "Fuck my life…" He was going to die down here. He knew that now. Coyote started to laugh. It was a full, deeply amused sound. He coughed then and just couldn't stop. Something was irritating his lungs now. He had no idea what. "I… Lily… be safe…" He mumbled as his eyesight became hopelessly jumbled. Consciousness was fading and there was not a single think he could do about it.

The young Coyote fell into what felt like a wonderful sleep. One from which he would never wake.

* * *

The ghost of the young man managed to make his way to the surface.

He followed the conduit, taking the path he'd sent the children on. Coyote knew he was dead and vaguely thought he should be going somewhere, but he didn't really believe in Heaven. He wasn't sure what waited for him but right now, he needed to find out what had happened to Lily. Where was she?

The children had made it out of the maintenance tube. But what they had found… Coyote stopped in shock, looking at what was left of the city he'd been born in.

"Oh my god." He whispered as he looked over the ruins. Buildings were torn apart. Girders lay in the streets and there was a dark ash over everything. "What happened?" The sky… the sky was dark. There was an odd reddish light in the distance. "…Nuclear?" That was all he could come up with. If it wasn't that, what else could it be? "Lily!" He had to find her. Although the ash… radiation? Were the children still alive?

They were not. It didn't take Lupe very long to find the bodies. They'd managed to escape through the maintenance tube but they hadn't gotten very far after that. The ghost stood helplessly by the little corpses. From what he could tell, though, radiation hadn't killed them. It took much longer than a single day. Had they suffocated? Was the air bad, somehow? He was only a child. He just didn't know.

"Coyote!" He looked up sharply then smiled as he saw the little girl running towards him. She had the same kind of chain in her chest that he did. He was willing to bet that that was the sign of a ghost. "I've been looking for you! Are you alright?" Lily demanded as she skidded to a halt and he touched his chain, making the links clink.

"No, not really." He said humorously and she looked at the chain, her shoulders slumping before she heaved a sigh.

"I hoped you would be okay down there, for a while anyway. What happened?" She asked and he told her about the air. "Oh. About the same as what happened here… sorry Wiley. You tried." She said and he nodded sadly. "There was this weird guy with a sword!" That caught his attention and he blinked. "He did something with the other kids, made them disappear but I hid from him. I wanted to be here when you arrived. I mean, I figured it would take longer but you would, you know?" She said and he smiled, touched. "I thought about going back down the tube but I… I didn't want to see." She looked down and he gently ruffled her hair.

"It's fine Lily." She hadn't wanted to watch him starving to death. He could completely understand that. "Should we try to find this man with a sword?" There was no reason to remain. Lily made a face.

"There's a lot of them searching around. They'll find us." She predicted and he nodded. "Let's just find a good spot to hang out."

"Alright." They both walked through the ruins before finding a nice vantage point. There was nothing around them but devastation, bodies half-buried in the ash and broken buildings. Lily idly swung her legs as Coyote rested his chin in his hand, bored. At least in the observatory he'd had some books. What was the other side going to be like? He wasn't too worried about going to Hell. If that happened because you did some pot, the universe was grossly unfair.

"…So much work!" They both perked up a little as the heard the voice. "Yama-jii was right. Can't believe the numbers…" The voice faded a bit and they missed the last part. But they heard another voice reply.

"…Everyone has to pitch in, even taichou." That word was meaningless to the two ghosts. "Wait, I'm sensing something. A powerful soul." They did hear that but didn't connect it to themselves. So they were mildly surprised when two strangers suddenly appeared in front of them. Coyote looked at them both alertly.

"That clothing is Japanese." He told Lily, who looked at him trustingly. He was an anime fan so he knew things like that. Lily's taste in cartoons was still My Little Pony. Which was, admittedly, a very good cartoon. "Although I have no idea why that man is wearing a kimono." That was peculiar. The stranger with the kimono also had a straw hat and he tilted it back, looking at them both with a stunned expression.

"Coyote Starrk!?" He said and Coyote blinked at him, taken aback.

"…What are you calling me?" He said after a moment. Starrk… why did that sound so strangely familiar? Coyote swallowed, feeling a lump of apprehension in his throat. This was strange and uncomfortable. He was tempted to flee but what was the point? He put an arm around Lily, pulling her closer as he looked at the two of them. The second man had very long white hair. That man put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"They're plus souls Shunsui. They can't remember." He said which made Coyote frown. Lily spoke up then, still cuddled against him.

"His name is Coyote. Wiley Coyote, because his mom was a bad, bad person." Lily told them and they both looked at her with some confusion. "Oi! Don't you guys know anything? Wile E. Coyote! He's a cartoon coyote who keeps trying to catch the roadrunner!" She said and the man in the hat started to smile. Coyote grimaced, running a hand over his face. "It's like naming someone Rose Thorn or Ima Hooker – "

"Lily!" That was definitely too adult a joke for her. "Please call me Coyote." He said firmly. Starrk sounded nice but it wasn't his name. "Are you going to show us on?" There was no reason to linger.

"And who are you, anyhow?" Lily asked. They had no idea. The one with the white hair smiled at her, enchanted by the child.

"I'm Ukitake Juushiro. This is my friend, Kyoraku Shunsui." He introduced them and Lily tried to repeat the names, stumbling a little over the foreign syllables. Coyote had a much easier time of it. "We will show you the way to Soul Society." He assured them before drawing his sword. His friend also drew his weapon and Coyote frowned. But then they reversed the blades. They were going to use the hilts?

To Coyote, what he did next was nothing unusual. He caught Kyoraku's wrist before the hilt could touch him and held the man away from him easily. He saw grey eyes widen in something like shock but had no idea why.

"Soul Society… what is this place like?" He asked suspiciously and the man took a breath before smiling at him in an attempt at reassurance. But he seemed shaken to the young plus soul.

"It's not perfect, but it's where souls need to go. A second world, where most suffer no hunger or disease." He said and Coyote frowned at him. Most? "Those with power do need to eat. If you suffer pangs, come to the gates of the Seireitei and say that Kyoraku taichou sent you." He said before smiling. Coyote blinked at the sight of it. It made the man very handsome and he blushed lightly, releasing his wrist.

"I will, thank you." He said and Shunsui smiled at him again before gently resting the hilt of that sword on his forehead. It was cool and there was something engraved on it? He could feel the ridges against his skin. "Konso." He could hear the other man doing the same thing for Lily.

Then everything dissolved in blue.

* * *

"Kami." Shunsui rubbed his wrist as he and Juushiro kept looking for plus souls to give konso.

He still couldn't believe what had just happened. The young man had moved with something like shunpo, catching his wrist in an unbreakable grip. For just a moment his spiritual pressure had flared and the young Coyote had seemed completely unaware of it. The little girl beside him had flared as well, although not as brightly. Did they realize they were still connected?

"Don't think about it Shunsui. As powerful as he might be, he's only a plus soul now." Juushiro seemed to be taking this very calmly. Shunsui frowned at him, wondering why he couldn't see the strangeness.

"Why did it take so long for them to be reborn? And why didn't they go to Soul Society?" That seemed strange to him. There was a pause before Juushiro spoke.

"I have a theory. None of the Espada have been seen in Soul Society in any recognizable way." He said and Shunsui nodded. That was true. "Perhaps becoming an arrancar made it impossible for them to be purified directly. The soul collections might need to go to Hell to be rendered, the innocent souls returned to the cycle." That was what Hell was for. Truly evil souls were rendered into nothing but energy, to be reconstituted into new, pure souls. However, unpurified soul collections were full of innocent souls. With those, Hell rendered them out, returning the innocent souls more quickly and keeping the tainted ones for full rendering. "Is it any surprise that they would be reborn in the Living World?" That was usually what happened, when a soul left Hell.

"No, I suppose not." Shunsui said slowly, remembering the Espada who had spared his life. He had certainly not been an evil man. "I wonder if we'll see them again?" It seemed likely to him. Juushiro smiled, glancing back.

"I'm sure we will." It was quite likely that the two plus souls would explode in spiritual power once they entered Soul Society. And if they came to the gate, they would be let in. He and Shunsui would see to that.

They would make fine shinigami someday.


End file.
